Friday, July 27, 2012

Lemon curd (also known as lemon honey) is
so easy to make that if you haven’t made it before, you should really give it a
go. It can be cooked in a saucepan, but
this microwave method is super quick and easy.

Although, I have lemon trees at home, they
won’t be winning any beauty competitions with their gnarled, imperfect
skins. Their appearance kind of makes it
difficult sometimes to get good-looking zest - and we all want good looking
zest don’t we? Well, yes we do in lemon
curd, otherwise we get flecks of green and black in the jar, which ain’t so
pretty. So when a bag of unblemished
lemons came into my being, I knew right away I would be making lemon curd and preserved
lemons. I was assured the lemons were organic (really? They looked so perfect?).

For a long time I only purchased lemon
curd at craft fairs where little old ladies had probably been making it for
years. Since I discovered it’s simple to make, I’ve been making it at home. This
recipe comes from a grandmother, a former colleague, and is just delicious.

There are lots of things you can do with lemon
curd. The most temptingly obvious is spooning
it direct into one’s mouth. In fact, it’s quite likely you’ll eat the whole
jar. I thought I was the only one with
this weak trait, but a colleague told me she’d been doing the very
same thing.

Assuming you resist the temptation, try spreading
it on toast, bagels, or fill sweet pastry tarts with it. It’s divine swirled through vanilla ice cream
or as a filling in sponges, muffins and cupcakes. I dolloped a teaspoonful on a
slice of lemon, banana and sultana cake to lift its’ slightly dry texture. Or just package up the jars pretty and give
as a gift – the recipient will love you forever.

Next time, I’ll be writing about the lemon
louise slice I made using the lemon curd.

lemon
curd

6 eggs, well beaten

125g (¼ lb) butter, cut in chunks

500g (1lb) sugar

Grated rind of 2 lemons

Juice of 3 lemons, strained

Wash and sterilize about 4 or 5 glass jars
(how many you will need depends on the size of the jars – I tend to use smaller
ones). I sterilize by washing the jars
and lids in hot, soapy water, then rinse the jars while still wet and put them
(without the lids) in the microwave for one minute. Use boiling water from a kettle to pour over
the lids to sterilize.

Place all the ingredients in a large
microwaveable jug and stir. Heat the
mixture for 30 seconds in the microwave and stir again. It
will start off looking lumpy but should be smooth once heated and
combined. Continue microwaving in 30-second
bursts, stirring in between, until the mixture has reached the correct
consistency. You should be able to coat the back of a spoon with the curd. Don’t overcook as it will set too hard.

Use the jug to pour the lemon curd into jars. Leave to cool, then seal.

The
recipe was given to me in imperial measurements so I have added metric
measures.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Brioche and Jelly

I was right about the brioche, it was a
perfect match for the Christine Ferber Gewürztraminer
& Rose Petal jelly (see last etcetera
post).

On a trip to the city, I stopped off at local
artisan bakery, Albert’s Kitchen in
Pukekohe.Although I hadn’t recalled
seeing brioche there before I decided to try anyway.My decision was pure serendipity and,
it turned out, most timely. The store had only introduced brioche loaves that
very day. Four or five full plaited loaves loomed large on the counter.My only thought was how was I going to eat it
all!I was assured a loaf could be
frozen so left very happy.

Next day I had a breakfast that turned
into an occasion, albeit a solitary one as no-one else was home. Or to put
another way, did I deliberately wait until I was alone?

I couldn’t wait to open the jar.This one was going to be eaten now.

With one enthusiastic twist, it was done.
I barely had to lean forward to inhale the aroma – there it was, a divine perfumed
scent assailed my olfactory senses.I
was in heaven after just one whiff.Had
I not been able to eat the jelly, just inhaling it would suffice.Do you ever, as I seem to do, keep sniffing
the heady scent of roses or fresh coffee and you can’t get enough, so you keep
on sniffing, inhaling deeper each time?That was how it was.

The jelly easily surpasses any jelly or
jam I have ever tasted or, for that matter, made.Pure heaven on a spoon.I sliced some brioche from the loaf and
lightly toasted and buttered them. Then I dropped pretty teaspoonfuls of
beautiful, clear jelly on each slice.I
could go on but I’m sure you get the picture.

That evening, after declining a taste, I
asked Bill to just take a sniff of the open jar.He did so.Obviously encouraged, he said he’d try a spoonful. His comment? “You shouldn’t have done that”.I’ve now hidden the jar.I didn’t really need anyone to confirm how exquisite it was.

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Sunday, July 1, 2012

Right now in the winter months, I’ve been
giving the muesli a break and am fuelling up with porridge in the
mornings.Creamy and warming, it’s quick
and easy to make in the microwave and, of course, very nutritious.If I’ve got a little extra time, I make this
maple banana porridge, adapted from one made in a pot by Bill Granger.This microwave version cuts down on the
amount of sugar used (Bill uses brown sugar and
maple syrup) but sugar lovin’ me still loves it.

Slicing the banana thinly ensures it
almost dissolves into the porridge.

Serve with milk and a little cream and of
course maple syrup.

Bill Granger serves buttered apples with
his version, making it the most
wonderful dish.I save that for when
I’ve got plenty of time.

maple
banana porridge

For
one serving (I prefer a
smallish serving so feel free to adjust amounts)

¼ cup rolled porridge oats

½ banana, thinly sliced

1/3 cup water

¼ cup milk

a wee pinch of salt

to serve

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp cream

milk

Place the porridge oats, banana, water,
milk and salt in a microwaveable dish (for extra convenience use your cereal
bowl if it is suitable for the microwave and is deep enough for porridge not to
spill over).Stir and microwave on high
for one minute.

Remove from the microwave and stir
again.Return to the microwave for
another 30 second blast.Remove and
stir.Microwave a further 30 seconds
(keep an eye on it and hit the stop button if it starts to overflow).The porridge should have cooked and be fairly
creamy at this point.If not, microwave
for a further 20 seconds or so until it has reached a consistency to your
liking.

Transfer to a serving bowl (warmed would
be good).Drizzle with one teaspoon of
maple syrup and a little cream and serve with milk.